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Estimation of source parameters of local earthquakes originated near Idukki Reservoir, Kerala

  • Research Article - Solid Earth Sciences
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Abstract

We estimated the source parameters for local earthquakes near the Idukki reservoir, Kerala. The region falls under seismic zone III, indicating moderate seismicity, and is reported to have witnessed several small to moderate size magnitude earthquakes. Eight local earthquakes with magnitudes ranging between 2 and 3.6 were used during the data analysis of this study. Four key parameters were primarily estimated from the earthquake signals, providing an overall idea about the source characteristics, i.e., seismic moment, stress drop, corner frequency, and source radius. Our estimated moment magnitudes (Mw) range between 2 and 3.4, which are consistent with the reported local magnitude (ML) scale, indicating a minor difference between MW and ML scale. The estimated variations in seismic moment align well with the global model of micro-earthquakes, ranging between 1.2E + 15 and 1.1E + 17 dyn-cm. The source radius mostly varies between 110 and 220 m, with seismic moment exhibiting a linear increase as source size grows. This suggests a clear dependence of seismic moment on the radius of the source. It is likely that the brittle shear-failure mechanism on the fault segment and/or the presence of weak zones would contribute to local earthquakes with smaller source radius. Stress drops for most of the events are relatively low in the study region, ranging from 0.3 to 4.5 bars. The initiation of rupture is evident along an existing fault plane, potentially acting as a contributing factor to the observed lower stress drop values. The stress drop variable with a positive correlation to the seismic moment of the event might indicate a wide range of strength of the crustal rock in the region. Interestingly, both the corner frequency (fc) and maximum frequency (fmax) decrease as seismic moment increases, indicating that both are related to the source process and possibly influenced by the site effects. Finally, we can suggest that the derived source parameters can be utilized to simulate ground motion parameters of historical events, thereby enhancing seismic hazard assessment and facilitating earthquake engineering analyses in future research initiatives.

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Acknowledgements

This article is part of Semester project work of Anjaly S Menon. The dataset used here from the Phd work of Dr. Utpal Saikia. The authors express their gratitude to CSIR-NGRI for operating the seismic stations utilized in this research. The authors extend their sincere appreciation to all individuals from CSIR-NGRI who contributed during the field deployment phase. The graphical representations in this work were generated using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) as detailed in the publication by Wessel and Smith in 1998. Utpal Saikia acknowledges the financial support of the Ramanujan fellowship research grant provided by SERB-DST. The authors also extend thanks to Dr. Andrzej Górszczyk, the Editor-in-Chief, and two anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions greatly contributed to the enhancement of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Climate Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati, Tirupati, 517507, India

    Utpal Saikia & Anjaly S. Menon

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 605014, India

    Ritima Das

  3. National Center for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi, 110003, India

    Himanshu Mittal

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  1. Utpal Saikia
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  2. Anjaly S. Menon
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Correspondence to Ritima Das.

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Edited by Dr. Andrzej Górszczyk (ASSOCIATE EDITOR) / Prof. Ramón Zúñiga (CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF).

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Saikia, U., Menon, A.S., Das, R. et al. Estimation of source parameters of local earthquakes originated near Idukki Reservoir, Kerala. Acta Geophys. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-024-01348-w

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